Wales or England? Having previously played for both the Wales Student team, and the
England Under-23 side, Smart's international career could have taken him in either direction. Smart was initially offered a chance to play for
Wales against
New Zealand in 1974. This was a Welsh squad that included many of the players,
J. P. R. Williams,
Gareth Edwards,
Phil Bennett, central to the only
British and Irish Lions team to have ever defeated the
All Blacks at home in 1971. He turned down the invitation, deciding instead to accept his first trial for the
England the following month. While he was not selected for England on this occasion, Smart was selected by London Counties to play against
Australia, in November 1975. He played in two of the Test matches, defeating Japan 21:19 in Osaka, and Fiji 29:7 in Suva. It was during the Japanese leg of this tour, which coincided with one of the three great
Sumo Wrestling festivals of the year, that his team-mate John Scott first named Colin "Sumo" Smart and his younger, regular, front row 'tight-head' partner
Gary Pearce "Baby Sumo", nicknames that stuck within the England camp for the rest of their careers. ===
1981 Five Nations Championship=== Smart missed out on the England team's victorious 1980
Grand Slam, his number one jersey being taken by the three-time
British Lions forward
Fran Cotton. However, when Fran Cotton retired, Smart was recalled to the
England team. He played in three of the
1981 Five Nations Championship games alongside
Phil Blakeway at tighthead and
Peter Wheeler at hooker, with England winning against
Scotland and
Wales, before losing to
France in the final match at
Twickenham. The French, under the captaincy of
Jean-Pierre Rives and featuring a young
Serge Blanco in his first international season, won 16 to 12, to complete the
Grand Slam.
1981 Argentina Tour With
Phil Blakeway and
Peter Wheeler unable to travel, Smart resumed his front row partnership with
Gary Pearce on the 1981 tour to Argentina, with the rooky
Steve Mills at hooker. This front row partnership proved successful as England carried the test series, following a 19:19 draw with a 12:6 win in the deciding match. The incident was alluded to a month later, after England had beaten Wales, by
Steve Smith who quipped: "The aftershave will sure taste good tonight!" ===
1983 Five Nations Championship=== As in 1982 Smart played every minute of the Five Nations' matches
England participated in, though it ended up being a far less successful Championship than the previous four years.
England lost to
France,
Scotland and
Ireland, and only managed a draw against
Wales. == References ==